Reading wrap-up + Favourites | December 2018

I have so many blog posts planned for the beginning of the year, from lists of everything I’ve loved in 2018 to what I am planning to do in 2019, that I would almost have forgotten to post my December reading wrap-up. *shocked gasps* So before we’re too far ahead in the month, it’s time to wrap up December 2018!

December was quite an eventful month: it was made of my last few weeks at uni, being accepted into the internship I wanted the most, getting in the Christmas spirit and so much more. It was also a difficult month, as my anxiety was a mess because of university, but at least that part is over and I’ve been on vacations since December 19th, so it’s alright. Anyhow, let’s jump into what I read during the last month of 2018.

Lord of Shadows, by Cassandra Clare, 5/5 stars (re-read)

Queen of Air and Darkness, by Cassandra Clare, 4/5 stars

Mr. Dickens and His Carol, by Samantha Silva, 4/5 stars

Assassin’s Quest, by Robin Hobb, 4.5/5 stars

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling, 5/5 stars (re-read)

The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov, 3.5/5 stars

Hickory Dickory Dock, by Agatha Christie, 4/5 stars

Muse of Nightmares, by Laini Taylor, 4.5/5 stars

A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, 5/5 stars

+ three French graphic novels

At the beginning of December, I set myself a very ambitious TBR, because there were many huge books I wanted to read and I nailed it (I was very scared I wouldn’t finish A Game of Thrones in time, but I did it!). Reading and loving fantasy again is such a wonderful feeling, so it won’t be too surprising if I tell you that I got a book hangover after finishing The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb and that it would have been the same for A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, had I not started my reread of Les Misérables at the beginning of January. My favourite book of the month, then, was A Game of Thrones, I’m so proud of myself for starting the A Song of Ice and Fire series at long last! Now I need to binge-read every book set in this world.

EVENT // Meeting Lin-Manuel Miranda

On December 10th, a premiere of Mary Poppins Returns took place in Paris, in the presence of some of the members of the cast, including Lin-Manuel Miranda. It was just a premiere for press (um, I still haven’t watched the movie, which is really sad) and no one was talking about it, but somehow we heard it would take place and I got there with some of my friends. We were just waiting, hoping to get a glimpse of the cast and… We met Lin-Manuel Miranda. I mean, we actually talked to him?? This entire moment was surreal, he truly was the nicest, he signed something for everyone, did group selfies… I still cannot believe it happened, it was a perfect way to end the year. I’m beyond happy for my friends Clara and Lydia, as he means the world to them and they had been wanting to meet him for forever, I can’t believe they finally did so!!

TV SHOW // The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)

In December, I finally started watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and this TV show has been making me so happy. I had been hearing my friend Fatima talking about it for so long and my friend Clara had also started it some time before, and as I wanted to watch a period drama that would make me happy, I gave in. This American period drama, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino*, is set in 1958 and follows Myriam “Midge” Maisel, an upper-class Jewish housewife. After her husband leaves her for his secretary, she delivers an impromptu comic performance in a bar where her husband used to act for fun, and after some time, she is inspired to become a comedian. This TV show is such a fresh breath of air and binge-watching it has been amazing! My boyfriend got addicted as well when he hadn’t watched the first four episodes, so yeah… Just watch it!

*she created Gilmore Girls!

MOVIE // Christmas movies

At the end of November, I made a list of Christmas movies I wanted to watch and slowly made my way through it during the time that led to Christmas. I discovered that I loved cheesy Christmas movies and binge-watched all the Netflix Original ones, my favourite being The Holiday Calendar. I also finally got to older Christmas movies I had wanted to watch for so long, such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I also watched The Man Who Invented Christmas, which is about how Dickens came to write A Christmas Carol and it was my favourite of them all! I had wanted to watch it for so long (of course I did, Dan Stevens plays Charles Dickens), they never released it in France, and it was as amazing as I thought it would be! I’m hoping that watching it for Christmas will become a new tradition!

WRITING

At the beginning of my holidays, I got an idea for a new novel… and I haven’t been able to get away from it since then, because my characters keep talking to me. Oh, well. I haven’t written consistently in four years, but got some ideas for historical novels that I’ve always been terrified to write. However, this one might be the one, because it’s not set too far away in the past, and the entirety of it is so me. A lot of it is coming from my personal experience, which makes it hard to write, but this project has made me so happy. I’ve started doing research for it, which is a lot of fun, and getting to know my characters is amazing, I love them so much. Writing this book will be one of my biggest challenges of 2019, but in any case, December was our honeymoon phase with my WIP, so it was all good.

MOVIE // Aquaman (2018)

I didn’t really expect that to happen, but at the end of December, I watched the Aquaman movie and I absolutely fell in love with it. Now, you probably know that I adore Marvel’s movies, but the ones from DC Comics… Well, not so much. I always go watch them (except for Suicide Squad that I never watched and don’t want to), but I always have mixed feelings about them. Needless to say, I didn’t have a lot of expectations when I went to watch Aquaman, I just knew I had to watch it because I’ve always been obsessed with the sea, and I fell for it. Yes, I do have a crush on both Jason Momoa and Amber Heard, but I also adore the world-building, the story, the aesthetic, the inspirations for it and the soundtrack of the movie. I’ve already watched it twice in December and by the time I’ve published this, I’ll probably have watched it a third time, because I can’t get enough out of it. It also (re)taught me something that I had forgotten and needed to remember, so I’m grateful it did. I’m so happy it was my last movie of the year and I cannot wait to read Aquaman’s comics now (even though he’s blonde in them *cries*).

As you’re reading this, I’m currently in Algeria for a project with my university, which is exciting and a bit scary, as it’s my very first time out of Europe! Still, I am so happy to start the year by traveling to a place I’ve never been before and I’m sure it’ll be really interesting. Moreover, I’ll be starting my internship on January 10th and I’m so excited about it, I’m sure that it’ll be an enlightening experience! So basically, that’s what my month will look like and I’m so there for it!

There are also so many releases I’m excited about for books, movies and TV shows. I’ve already talked about my most anticipated book releases for this winter recently and I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to read January releases, but I have an e-ARC of The Gilded Wolves, so that’s exciting. For movies, I am so looking forward to watching On the Basis of Sex (Felicity Jones <3), Colette, and The Hate U Give, which is finally coming out in France! I also need to catch up on some movies I didn’t watch during the holidays, so I’ll probably spend my whole free time in theaters. Oops. I also have several TV shows that will start airing again, the third season of A Series of Unfortunate Events is already there, but I’m also impatiently waiting for Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Victoria, I have been waiting for so long!